On one side of the floor, you have an undefeated and top-ranked Maquoketa Valley girls’ basketball team. On the other end, you have a 1-13 Edgewood-Colesburg team coming off its first win of the season.

Edgewood-Colesburg opened the game with a 16-0 run and defeated Maquoketa Valley, 65-44, in a Tri-Rivers Conference boys’ basketball contest in Edgewood, Jan. 15.

The Western Dubuque wrestling team crowned two champions at the Cascade Invitational en route to a second-place team finish, Jan. 16. Earlier in the week the Bobcats easily beat Wahlert, 64-9, in Dubuque, Jan. 14.

That streak of seven tough games continues for the Beckman boys and the results are not getting any better. The Blazers were outscored at Mount Vernon, Jan. 12, 51-27, for their third straight loss (7-3). They rebounded a bit Jan. 15 at home, making it four straight, to Clear Creek-Amana, 54-38.

Taking on Class 3A Mount Vernon usually doesn’t turn out well for the Class 2A Beckman girls, but the game, Jan. 12, at home gave the Blazers a decisive 48-25 victory.

Beckman’s wrestlers claimed fifth place at the Cascade Tournament, Jan. 16, trailing winners LaPorte City Union 201, Western Dubuque 196.5, Central DeWitt 174 and Burlington, Notre Dame 170.

Beckman senior Sean Hinerichsen signed a National Letter of Intent to play golf for Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids next fall.

Maquoketa Valley’s boys’ basketball team had a busy week, with four games in five days against three of the top teams in the state. In those four games they beat Alburnett, 61-52, at home, Jan. 11, traveled to Springville, Jan. 12 to take on the 12-1 Orioles losing, 60-35. On Jan. 14, the Wi…

Dylan Johnson’s lay-up with 2.6 left on the clock gave the Western Dubuque boys’ basketball team a thrilling, 49-48, come-from-behind win over Wahlert at Epworth, Jan. 5, and Nick Bryant scored 19 points and Carson Schute added 10 to help the Bobcats hold off Linn-Mar, 49-40, at Marion, Jan. 8.

Western Dubuque’s girls’ basketball team dropped two Mississippi Valley Conference contests and a non-conference tilt at Maquoketa last week to fall to 2-9 on the season.

LinnMar provided little trouble for the Western Dubuque bowling teams, Jan. 8, at Cobra Lanes.

The Western Dubuque wrestling team ran the table at the Linn-Mar Duals earning three wins, Jan. 9, but they lost a close match to Linn-Mar, 36-33, when the Bobcats hosted the Lions in Epworth, Jan. 7.

When teams with identical 7-1 records and a chance at the top of the conference meet, you know there will be fireworks. Solon came to Beckman, Jan. 8, and went home with a hard-fought overtime win, 54-52.

In a trip to Solon, Jan. 7, the Beckman wrestling team built a big lead in the early matches and went on to win 45-33 in a WaMaC showdown.

Hosting Solon, the top team in the WaMaC East, Jan. 8, the Beckman girls’ basketball team gave the Spartans everything they could handle, eventually falling, 43-40.

Maquoketa Valley’s girls’ basketball team is in a tough stretch right now with seven games in the next 13 days. Last week, the Wildcats added three more wins to improve to 11-0. They opened on Jan. 5 with a 51-38 win against Alburnett at home and followed it up with a 43-26 win against Mount…

Maquoketa Valley’s wrestling team traveled to Alburnett for a quad, Jan. 7. The Wildcats went 1-2 beating Edgewood-Colesburg, 36-24, but fell to Highland, Riverside, 35-30, and Alburnett, 54-15.

Maquoketa Valley freshman Haley Ronnebaum came up big in the Wildcats’, 52-34, win against second-ranked, and reigning Class 2A state champs North Linn, Jan. 2 at home. The game between the Tri-Rivers West conference leaders snapped North Linn’s 12-game win streak.

It’s been a solid early season on the wrestling mat for Western Dubuque’s Sawyer Nauman, who is thankful for the opportunity to compete during his senior year with the Bobcats after suffering a serious facial injury midway through the 2020 football campaign.

Western Dubuque cross country and track standout Lauren Klein recently signed a National Letter of Intent to participate in both sports at the University of Northern Iowa in a ceremony at Western Dubuque High School.

Garrett Baumhover got loose for 17 points as he led the Western Dubuque boys’ basketball team to a 76-48 trouncing of West Delaware in a non-conference affair at Epworth, Jan. 2.

It isn’t often a team trails by 22 points after one quarter of action and still has an opportunity to win on a last-second shot, but that was the case for the Western Dubuque girls basketball team in a 62-60 loss to Class 5A No. 6 Waterloo West, in Epworth, Dec. 22.

Kyle Lehmann relied on a few familiar faces when unprecedented recruiting challenges complicated his decision-making process.

It took two overtime periods for the Maquoketa Valley boys’ basketball team to defeat Clayton Ridge, 51-48, at home, Dec. 21.

Every game the Wildcat girls’ basketball team goes into they have a huge target on their backs and they have to respect that.

A week of boy-girl varsity combinations ended at home with a non-conference battle with Cascade, Dec. 19, for the Blazers. The girls fell, 47-35, and the boys got that back with an easy 55-19 victory.

Senior Melanie Lutgen is the first-ever Beckman student to sign a National Letter of Intent to join the Clarke University Dance team when she becomes a student there in the fall of 2021.

Respect is not given. Respect is earned and because of the hard work and dedication put forth by every member of the Western Dubuque boys’ basketball team they are finally being recognized for the team they have become. The Bobcats, now 10th ranked in Class 3A, showed they are worthy as they…

Amy Ostwinkle’s youthful Western Dubuque girls’ basketball team dropped a pair of Mississippi Valley Conference games last week, but make no mistake, this Bobcat team gets better each time it steps on the floor.

The Western Dubuque wrestling team faced off with a couple of the best squads in the state, and even though they might have claimed just one team dual win, they gained a lot of confidence after battling them on the mat.

When Lauren Osterhaus drilled a three at the buzzer Dec. 15, it knotted their game against the Cardinals of Maquoketa and sent them to overtime. And not just one extra frame but two that ended with a 69-62 Blazer win.

Facing perennial wrestling powers Don Bosco and West Delaware last week resulted in two losses for the Beckman wrestling team, but the Blazers earned wins over Anamosa, Cascade and Mount Vernon earlier in the week.

After three-quarters of pretty much dead-even basketball, the Beckman boys finally broke loose in the fourth quarter and defeated a scrappy Maquoketa (2-2) team, 60-54, at home Dec. 15, to remain undefeated for the year (5-0).

The Maquoketa Valley boys’ basketball team had a busy week playing three games. On Dec. 15, the Wildcats traveled to East Buchanan for a 54-37 win. Two nights later they hosted Lisbon in a rescheduled game, losing at the buzzer, 40-37. The following night they hosted the conference-leading L…

Maquoketa Valley’s girls’ basketball team continues to show why the Wildcats are ranked number one in the state with two more victories. On Dec. 15 the Wildcats defeated conference rival East Buchanan, 36-26. Dec. 17, they hosted the Lisbon Lions coming away with a convincing, 64-21, win.